| US doctors kill skin cancer with cloned T-cells |
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Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 19-Jun-2008 05:27 hrs |
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| US doctors have for the first time successfully treated a skin cancer patient with cells cloned from his own immune system, a study released Wednesday showed. |
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US doctors have for the first time successfully treated a skin cancer patient with cells cloned from his own immune system, a study released Wednesday showed.
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The ground-breaking treatment for advanced melanoma, or skin cancer, led to a long remission for the patient and used his own cloned infection-fighting T-cells, said doctor Cassian Yee, the lead author of the study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Yee and his associates from the Clinical Research Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle removed CD4+ T-cells, a type of white blood cell, from a 52-year-old man whose melanoma had spread to a groin lymph node and to one of his lungs.
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The melanoma was already well advanced and in stage four.
.
The T-cells which specifically fight melanoma were modified and expanded in the laboratory and some five billion cells were then infused into the patient, who received no other kind of treatment.
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Two months later no tumors were found during scans of the patient's organs. And he has been cancer free for two years, Yee said.
.
"We were surprised by the anti-tumor effect of these CD4 T cells and its duration of response," Yee said. "For this patient we were successful, but we would need to confirm the effectiveness of therapy in a larger study."
.
It was the first ever case to show that cloned cells from a patient's own immune system can successful combat skin cancer. If further tests confirm the efficiency of the method, it could be used in some 25 percent of patients with late-stage skin cancer, the study said.
.
Using a patient's own immune system to combat cancer, called immunotherapy, is a growing area of research that aims to develop less-toxic cancer treatments than standard chemotherapy and radiation.
.
Some 160,000 cases of melanoma are diagnosed around the world every year, particularly affecting white men living in very sunny regions.
.
Although it usually affects the skin, in rare cases it can also infect the eyes and intestines.
.
According to the World Health Organization, some 48,000 people die from melanoma every year. — AFP
US doctors have for the first time successfully treated a skin cancer patient with cells cloned from his own immune system, a study released Wednesday showed.
.
The ground-breaking treatment for advanced melanoma, or skin cancer, led to a long remission for the patient and used his own cloned infection-fighting T-cells, said doctor Cassian Yee, the lead author of the study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
.
Yee and his associates from the Clinical Research Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle removed CD4+ T-cells, a type of white blood cell, from a 52-year-old man whose melanoma had spread to a groin lymph node and to one of his lungs.
.
The melanoma was already well advanced and in stage four.
.
The T-cells which specifically fight melanoma were modified and expanded in the laboratory and some five billion cells were then infused into the patient, who received no other kind of treatment.
.
Two months later no tumors were found during scans of the patient's organs. And he has been cancer free for two years, Yee said.
.
"We were surprised by the anti-tumor effect of these CD4 T cells and its duration of response," Yee said. "For this patient we were successful, but we would need to confirm the effectiveness of therapy in a larger study."
.
It was the first ever case to show that cloned cells from a patient's own immune system can successful combat skin cancer. If further tests confirm the efficiency of the method, it could be used in some 25 percent of patients with late-stage skin cancer, the study said.
.
Using a patient's own immune system to combat cancer, called immunotherapy, is a growing area of research that aims to develop less-toxic cancer treatments than standard chemotherapy and radiation.
.
Some 160,000 cases of melanoma are diagnosed around the world every year, particularly affecting white men living in very sunny regions.
.
Although it usually affects the skin, in rare cases it can also infect the eyes and intestines.
.
According to the World Health Organization, some 48,000 people die from melanoma every year. — AFP
US doctors have for the first time successfully treated a skin cancer patient with cells cloned from his own immune system, a study released Wednesday showed.
.
The ground-breaking treatment for advanced melanoma, or skin cancer, led to a long remission for the patient and used his own cloned infection-fighting T-cells, said doctor Cassian Yee, the lead author of the study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
.
Yee and his associates from the Clinical Research Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle removed CD4+ T-cells, a type of white blood cell, from a 52-year-old man whose melanoma had spread to a groin lymph node and to one of his lungs.
.
The melanoma was already well advanced and in stage four.
.
The T-cells which specifically fight melanoma were modified and expanded in the laboratory and some five billion cells were then infused into the patient, who received no other kind of treatment.
.
Two months later no tumors were found during scans of the patient's organs. And he has been cancer free for two years, Yee said.
.
"We were surprised by the anti-tumor effect of these CD4 T cells and its duration of response," Yee said. "For this patient we were successful, but we
would need to confirm the effectiveness of therapy in a larger study."
.
It was the first ever case to show that cloned cells from a patient's own immune system can successful combat skin cancer. If further tests confirm the efficiency of the method, it could be used in some 25 percent of patients with late-stage skin cancer, the study said.
.
Using a patient's own immune system to combat cancer, called immunotherapy, is a growing area of research that aims to develop less-toxic cancer treatments than standard chemotherapy and radiation.
.
Some 160,000 cases of melanoma are diagnosed around the world every year, particularly affecting white men living in very sunny regions.
.
Although it usually affects the skin, in rare cases it can also infect the eyes and intestines.
.
According to the World Health Organization, some 48,000 people die from melanoma every year. — AFP
US doctors have for the first time successfully treated a skin cancer patient with cells cloned from his own immune system, a study released Wednesday showed.
.
The ground-breaking treatment for advanced melanoma, or skin cancer, led to a long remission for the patient and used his own cloned infection-fighting T-cells, said doctor Cassian Yee, the lead author of the study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
.
Yee and his associates from the Clinical Research Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle removed CD4+ T-cells, a type of white blood cell, from a 52-year-old man whose melanoma had spread to a groin lymph node and to one of his lungs.
.
The melanoma was already well advanced and in stage four.
.
The T-cells which specifically fight melanoma were modified and expanded in the laboratory and some five billion cells were then infused into the patient, who received no other kind of treatment.
.
Two months later no tumors were found during scans of the patient's organs. And he has been cancer free for two years, Yee said.
.
"We were surprised by the anti-tumor effect of these CD4 T cells and its duration of response," Yee said. "For this patient we were successful, but we would need to confirm the effectiveness of therapy in a larger study."
.
It was the first ever case to show that cloned cells from a patient's own immune system can successful combat skin cancer. If further tests confirm the efficiency of the method, it could be used in some 25 percent of patients with late-stage skin cancer, the study said.
.
Using a patient's own immune system to combat cancer, called immunotherapy, is a growing area of research that aims to develop less-toxic cancer treatments than standard chemotherapy and radiation.
.
Some 160,000 cases of melanoma are diagnosed around the world every year, particularly affecting white men living in very sunny regions.
.
Although it usually affects the skin, in rare cases it can also infect the eyes and intestines.
.
According to the World Health Organization, some 48,000 people die from melanoma every year. — AFP
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